William b



@stuiten gisten strut @fitta WILLIAM SPARK-S, OF NEW lzIAVlllN, CONNEGTIGUT.

Letters Patent No. 81,026, dated August 11, 1868.

IMPROVED SNAP-HOOK.

' TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SPARKS, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvementin-Snap-Hooks; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with theaccompanying drawings, and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure YIlya top view, and in s Figure 2 a side view, a portion beingbroken away to more clearly illustrate the construction. v

This invention relates toan improvement in the artieleot' manufacturecommonly known as snap-hooks, the object being to construct a hook whichcannot, by any possibility, b'e Vaccidentally unsnapped, and consists inthe arrangement .of a divided tongue, one part of the tongueopeningdownward inte the hook, the other part outward from the hook, sothat, by opening the outer part, the hook may be readily' clasped uponthe thing to which it is desired 'to attach it, the under part yieldingfor the purpose, and when so attached, the said under .partfspringsbackiagaist the' hook, so that it cannot be detached by any pressureoutward, and the outer kpart,-

released, falls upon the outer end of the hook, and the under part ofthe tongue, so that no pressure from the outside upon the tongue caneffectV its release, the two parts ofthe tongue acting in conjunction,to prevent the unsnappi'ng ofthe hook.

In order to the clear understanding of my invention, I will fullydescribe the same as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A is the hook, provided, in the usual manner, with an eye, `B, or othermeans of attachment.

a is the lower part, and d the upper of the snap, pivoted upon a commoncentre at f, ou the body of the hook, as seen in fig. 2. 'lhe two partsof the tongue extend back of the pivot, and between the two ends soextended back, a spring, b, of any convenient construction, is placed,the tenden'cyof which is to force the two parts ofthe tongue together,as denoted in fig. 2, the upper side ofthe end of the hook forming abearing for the upper part CZ of thc tongue, and the under side oftheend of thehook, in similar manner, forms a vbearing for the under partof the` tongue.

To attach the hook, raise the part cl by means of a projection, h, orother device, to the position denoted in blue, iig. 2, then the part ais in the position of the tongue of an ordinary snap-hook, and may beattached/in like manner, passing the hookeon to the thing to which it isto be attached, so that the said thing will pass under the upper part dof the tongue; then it will naturally depress the under part a, andenter the hook, inv like man'- ner as in common snap-hooks; the upperpart then released, prevents any outward pressure being brought to bearupon the under part, however the hook may be twisted from the thing towhich it is attached, and therefore cannot, by any possibility, heaccidentally detached. l

To release the hook, depressthelower part ofthe tongue by means of theprojection Zthercon, (as seen in red, iig. 2,) extending through theunder side of the hook, or by other means, so that the 'thing to whichthe hook is attached may pass between the/upper and lower part, then thehook may be easily drawn from the said thing, the upper part yielding frthe purpose.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy The arrangement of adivided tongue in two parts, a. and d, pivoted so that cach may turnindependent of the other, and so that oneropens outward, and the otherinward, each bearing upon the end of the hook A, and provided,respectively, with projections k and Z, or other equivalent means, foroperating substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein setforth.

' WILLIAM E. SPARKS. Witnesses:

J. H. SnUMwnY, A. J. Tierras.

